In life Michael Jackson thrilled fans the world over with his unrivaled talent. In death the undisputed King of Pop looks set to do the same, with reports confirming that rehearsal footage from his ill-fated ‘This Is It’ London shows will be hitting the big screen this October:

I, for one, am really excited to see what Michael was cooking up, along with the show’s director Kenny Ortega, the talented cast of dancers and the other great folk assembled for what was supposed to be a spectacle of proportions concert-goers had never seen before.

I’ve heard some in the MJ fan community complaining about companies trying to exploit the tragedy and make money from this all. However, it’s important for such people to remember that Michael Jackson himself was in his hey-day a very smart business man (See: Sony ATV/ Beatles catalogue) and understood that the business side of things was just as important as the creative side too. I mean why not release the footage? The world wants to see MJ in his element for the last time. With 90% of the profit going towards his estate, which will ultimately benefit his children (neither they or their own children will ever have to work in their lives), I’m struggling to see anything wrong with this. If anything, the release of the movie, DVDs, new albums etc will further propel his legendary status even higher, something which really makes his sad death that bit easier to deal with. Roll on October…

Rapper Jay-Z was interviewed by the UK’s Tim Westwood last night to promote his eagerly awaited ‘Blueprint 3’ LP. While speaking to Westwood, Jay-Z was finally questioned about the much talked about rumour of him using his pulling power to have Chris Brown removed from the list of performers at the travesty that was this year’s BET Awards. Jigga, real name Shawn Carter, vehemently denied the claim and offered his take on Chris Brown’s recent apology.

Also, giving his reaction to The Game’s recent ‘anti-Jay’-Z campaign, Jay labelled the former G-Unit member “a groupie”. Ouch.

R&B star Keri Hilson performed her smash hit single ‘Knock You Down’ on Yahoo’s Pepsi Smash recently. Ms. Keri-Baby did her thing. I enjoyed the performance.

Tidbit: Our pretty damn good interview with Keri will be quicker than you can say ‘Sam, the man, the Kelly Rowland stan’!

Mariah Carey new album ”Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel’ has been pushed back 3 weeks to September 15th and will now miss the Grammy 2010 deadline. The set originally due in stores August 25th via Def Jam is preceded by single ‘Obsessed’, which is performing well on the charts, but not great by Mariah’s standards. {Source}

While I’m sure marketing / promotional strategy, as well as the release of a 2nd single, is the cause of the delay, one would not be wrong in wondering if the so-so performance of lead single ‘Obsessed’ (which currently sits at #11 on the Billboard 100 and isn’t really doing much of anything worldwide), factors in to all this.

Interestingly, the original release date was a week before Whitney’s much anticipated comeback album hit stores; perhaps the move was to not allow for any ‘Diva Chart Battle’ media hype and/or risk losing out to the ‘I Will Always Love You’ singer in sales.

Push back or no push back, all I want from Mariah is a live performance this ‘era’ that reminds everyone why she is dubbed ‘The Voice’ and not performances that sounds like she’s been chewing on cigarette buttes or has a hangover. Come on Mariah, you can do it 😉

Randomness: I have listened to ‘Fly Like A Bird’ from the ‘Emancipation’ album almost every day since the record was released – back in 2005. A classic.

Monica has been in the studio for the better part of 2 years cooking up her latest LP ‘Still Standing’ (due October 13th via J Records). Today, saw the surfacing of the record’s first single ‘Let Me Know’ – which was produced by Missy Elliott and written by Monica’s label mate Jazmine Sullivan.

As regards the track itself, it has pleasant ‘groove’ to it, which makes it’s debut on the brink of summer oh-so apt. That said, I’m not really sure it’s lead single worthy…or even single worthy to be frank. Missy’s banshee screaming is the epitome of hot mess. Totally unnecessary. I’ve been hoping the otherwise awesome Elliott would have stopped it ever since I heard her scream all over poor Tweet’s ‘Turn The Lights Off’ 4 years ago. SMH…

R&B star Chris Brown has broken his 5 month silence. The ‘With You’ singer finally spoke to the media – via this new video – about his much publicized assault of former girlfriend Rihanna back in February and offered his sincerest apologies.

I know what my thoughts are on this one, but I’d far more like to hear what you guys are thinking about Chris’ apology…

The track listing for Whitney Houston’s much anticipated ‘comeback’ album was unveiled on her official site today. Check out the 11-track list below:

Word has it the Swizz Beats produced / Alicia Keys penned ‘Million Dollar Bill’ will serve as album’s first single and is set to impact radio any time from now. Exciting stuff.

In what has to be the most music’s most random pairing and performance, rapper Lil’ Kim and 80’s pop star Cyndi Lauper took to the stage together this past Saturday at the Mandela Day concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The duo performed a medley of Lauper’s hit ‘Time After Time’ and Kim’s ‘Lighters Up’. Not an ordinary duet, in that both actually did each others parts. Yes, Lil’ Kim SANG and Lauper rapped.

Despite pretty much hovering on the ‘hot mess’ / ‘what were they thinking’ border for pretty much the entire performance, this definitely managed to engage me, if only for its sheer randomness.

Some of you may recall Janet Jackson’s ‘Discipline’, the title track to her criminally underrated album of the same name. Well, the demo version of the song, performed by the song’s writer Ne-Yo surfaced today. It’s real interesting hearing his take (essentially the original) on the record, as he really seems to channel Janet vocally with his delivery.

LeToya Luckett has hit the television promo trail in support of her new album ‘Lady Love’, most recently stopping by ABC News’ What’s The Buzz. The R&B star spoke on a number of things including, of course, the new record and her latest acting roles – which includes a movie with Ashton Kutcher.

Most interestingly, when asked the oh-so-expected Beyonce/Destiny’s Child questions, LeToya revealed she’d be open to a Destiny’s Child reunion. Notable, in that it’s the first time she’s been asked this on-air. With Destiny’s Child now having spent the majority of their professional careers as a Beyonce, Kelly, and Michelle, it sure would be interesting to see how would work out. That said, if ever billed as a tour/special with all the ladies, it would definitely amp the anticipation even more. One can dream…